#9 Carol Danvers, Captain Marvel

Air Force pilot Carol Danvers sook greater adventure when she joined up with N.A.S.A as a security officer. What she didn’t expect was to be swept up in the interstellar Kree Empire’s operations on Earth. She ended up befriending Captain Marvel, a Kree super her sworn to protect our planet. During one of Mar-Vell’s battles with the alien Yon-Rogg, Carol was thrown into a damaged Kree device called the Psyche-Magnitron, which gave her superhuman abilities in addition to changing her into a Kree/human hybrid.

Her powers have changed and fluctuated over the years, but they have mostly revolved around the following: immense strength, the ability to project energy blasts, energy absorption, and flight.

Not yet being aware her own superhuman abilities, she was unable to stop many of the supervillain attacks on N.A.S.A, and she was fired from that job. She wrote an expose on the organization that gained her some fame and a job writing a magazine called (no joke) Woman Magazine for the Daily Bugle. During this time, she began experiencing blackouts where a Kree personality would take over, and she became Ms. Marvel (after Captain Mar-Vell’s superhero title). This disjointed personality was later resolved with the help of an interdimensional being called Hecate and the Kree Accuser, Ronan.

Ms. Marvel joined the Avengers and fought through many battles with them.

This is where things get really weird. Also really uncomfortable.

Carol went on hiatus from the Avengers when she had a sudden pregnancy caused by an interdimensional being called Marcus, whom claimed to be the son of Immortus (one of the identities used by Kang the Conqueror). The child to which she gave birth was actually also Marcus who “needed” Carol to give birth to him so he could be in this dimension. He then forced Carol to fall in love with him, and the two returned to his home dimension of Limbo.

Comics are really, really bizarre sometimes.

Ms. Marvel later returned, using some of Kang’s time travel technology. She was understandably upset that none of the Avengers saved her, and she left the team. She moved to San Francisco. While there, Ms. Marvel battled Rogue, then a member of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. With her abilities, Rogue stole Ms. Marvel’s powers permanently. Carol barely survived the experience.

She was later abducted by the alien Brood, whom experimented on her physiology. These experiments gave her cosmic powers, and Carol became the hero Binary. She escaped the Brood and joined the interstellar adventurers known as the Starjammers.

Carol returned to Earth after some time. She depleted her Binary powers in an effort to save the Earth’s sun. She had reduced abilities and took on the name Warbird. She became an alcoholic and a depressive at this point. After a few missions, Carol left the team to work as a part of the Department of Homeland Security.

She aided the Avengers during the Disassembled event and even rejoined when they restructured as the New Avengers.

Carol took back the name Ms. Marvel. She sided with Iron Man during the Super Hero Civil War and was put in charge of her own team of Avengers after it ended. When the Skrulls invaded the Earth in an event known as the Secret Invasion, she fought bravely against the invasion.

When the U.S. government ousted Tony Stark as the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D and was replaced by Norman Osborn and his H.A.M.M.E.R organization, Carol went underground with Luke Cage’s New Avengers. She was tracked down by Osborn, whom attempted to assassinate her. This attempt somehow split her into four energy beings. She was able to reduce this to two after some effort, one called Carol Danvers and the other called Carol Donovan. Moonstone, at the time the Ms. Marvel of Osborn’s Dark Avengers, was able to force Donovan and Danvers to reunite.

After meeting a reanimated Captain Mar-Vell on a space mission to stop the Phoenix Force, Carol Danvers decided to take the name of Captain Marvel for herself. She had finally gained enough confidence in herself and her abilities, and she wanted to honor his legacy.

Carol left for space and joined the Guardians of the Galaxy to find herself. It was at this point that she entered into a romantic relationship with James Rhodes aka War Machine. She was called back to Earth when Steve Rogers began his hunt for Tony Stark, Reed Richards, and their Illuminati.

Captain Marvel was a part of the lifeboat that managed to survive the Incursion cataclysm that resulted in the most recent Secret Wars event, and she was instrumental in the assault on Doctor Doom that resulted in the universe being restored.

After this event, she joined up with Alpha Flight and reestablished it as a planetary defense program. She established an all-women Avengers team called A-Force. She also set up the Ultimates along with Black Panther, Blue Marvel, Miss America, and Spectrum to fight off cosmic threats before they can reach Earth.

After a predicted invasion by Thanos by the Inhuman Ulysses, War Machine was killed in the ensuing battle. Carol was devastated, as was Tony Stark, Rhodes’ closest friend. This has sparked the new Civil War currently raging in Marvel comics.

Carol Danvers has a had a difficult history to say the least. She was made to be a perpetual victim in many events. However, this did not stop or deter her from being a hero. She is among the most dedicated and tenacious of the Avengers. She never stops fighting to protect the ones she loves and the world at large. She has seen what lies in wait for the human race out in the universe, and she will fight to the bitter end to protect us from it. These qualities are what make Carol Danvers, Captain Marvel, my 9th Favorite Marvel Hero.